CAC-Science8 - Malec's History of Oxygen

Discovered in 1774 by Joseph Priestly
He shined sunlight on mercuryoxide in glass tube, which released the oxygen, then conducted experiments with it discovering the new substance
Priestly was not first to discover it, but first to publish his findings, so he got the credit for the discovery
Scheele was first to discover oxygen, but didn't publish findings until after Priestly did
Both did not understand true nature of Oxygen
French Chemist, Lavoisier, realized the role of Oxygen in combustion and breathing
Comes from the word oxus(acid) gennan(generate)

Joseph Priestly